For a long time, Adobe was synonymous with creative software. But now progress is turning against its creator: while generative AI democratizes the means of production, the company is struggling with the legacy of its own success story.
Trapped in Its Own System
In 2013, Adobe changed the game for an entire industry: the Creative Suite, which could previously be purchased permanently, was discontinued – the subscription became the norm. For users, this marked a radical break: the one-time license gave way to a permanent rental – those who wanted to stay had to pay. Monthly fees replaced single purchases, and the stock price climbed steeply for years. But what once brought stability has now become a burden. The world no longer wants to own or rent software, but results. And that is exactly what the new AI tools deliver – faster, cheaper, and often better.
Firefly – Flicker Instead of Fire
With Firefly, Adobe wanted to prove that it had not slept through the AI revolution. Yet the promise was only half fulfilled. The resolution is too low, the results too sterile, and the competition too far ahead. While Midjourney, Flux, or Ideogram create visual aesthetics that convince both artistically and emotionally, Firefly feels like a tool from another era: solid, but without magic. Worse still: in the current Photoshop beta, Adobe already uses models from third parties such as Google Gemini. That is not a sign of openness but of weakness. A market leader that has to integrate its competitors has lost its technological authority.
The Subscription Model as a Time Bomb
Adobe’s greatest strength – the rental system – now threatens to turn against the company itself. Browser-based or open-source AI tools enable professional image editing for everyone, often free of charge and with rapidly improving quality. So why pay monthly at all when a freely available model delivers the same or better results? What once created loyalty has become a reason to leave. Even long-time creatives are beginning to switch – not out of defiance, but because the subscription model feels like a relic from the pre-AI era.
From Product to Platform
Adobe now faces a decision: either the company transforms itself from a software lessor into an infrastructure provider – or it will be overtaken by more agile competitors. One possible path would be to open up the Creative Cloud and turn it into a genuine platform where users can choose between different AI models. In this way, Adobe could retain control over the creative workflow, even if it were no longer the sole creator. But this step would mean cannibalizing its own business model – a rarity in the history of large corporations.
A Lost Aura
Adobe’s problem is not technology but mythology. For decades, the brand stood for the tools of professionals – “Made with Adobe” was a seal of quality, a mark of creative authority. Today that meaning is shifting: those who still work with Photoshop increasingly appear conservative, tied to outdated routines. AI-driven creativity has no brand, no suite, and no login. It is fleeting, collective, and open – a space in which authorship is being renegotiated. That is Adobe’s greatest enemy: the idea that creativity no longer belongs to anyone.
The BlackBerry Moment
Adobe still lives off its reputation, its ecosystem, and the habits of its users. Yet the history of major technology companies shows how quickly power can collapse into irrelevance when a company clings too long to its own model. If Adobe fails to recognize that AI could be to the company what the iPhone once was to BlackBerry, history will repeat itself. Those who do not dare to change will be replaced by change – and remain as a reminder of a time when control was still mistaken for progress.
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